The Seven Deadly Sins of Business

Most people are familiar with at least some of the seven deadly sins. They’ve been looked at from many different ways, but when it comes to business, each of these deadly sins can be lethal to the success of your business.

Pride. Greed. Lust. Wrath. Gluttony. Envy. Sloth. As individuals, many try to avoid these negative qualities, regardless of their religious beliefs. But once they leave their homes and venture into the world of business, all bets are off. It’s a dog eat dog world out there, and those dogs don’t care much about these deadly sins. But for those who want to make their business the best it can be, avoiding them will lead you towards success.

PrideCertainly, if you have built a strong business that is doing well for its industry, you have every reason to be proud of your success. But there is a fine line between being proud and pride when it comes to the sins. If you get to the point where you are no longer just proud, but view your business success in excess without regard to anyone else, your line between good and bad grows fuzzy.

Pride in the world of business means you believe so much in your own abilities that you forget that it wasn’t a solo journey to success. You forget about those who helped you along the way and those who helped you become who you are. Once you have reached this point, you will start to lose the support of those people, those businesses and all the influences that helped you. Pride will destroy the foundation on which your business was built.

GreedGreed can lead many businesses astray from their goals. Once you’ve had a taste of success, or money, or the public eye, many people want more. They can’t get enough of the attention, the lifestyle, and the benefits of success. They want more, and are willing to do whatever they have to do to get there.

In the pursuit of material items that are associated with success, the big corner office with the mahogany desk, it is easy to lose sight of your original goals, and make poor financial decisions. Money can buy a lot of nice items for your office, but it can also buy so much that you begin to lose money. Beware of greed, because you can lose more than money when you go overboard.

LustSteamy office romances aside, longing for what you can’t have isn’t going to help your business succeed. When it moves past the stage of reasonable goals, and moves into the area of obsessive and uncontrollable passion, suddenly it will be much easier to make impulsive decisions that could ultimately harm your business.

Lust also doesn’t typically happen towards attainable goals or items either. You’d have it, instead of lusting for it, if it is something you are able to attain. Lusting after what you can’t have isn’t the sign of a healthy business. Control your urges, otherwise lust will win and your business will lose.

WrathMost people who have worked in a traditional work atmosphere have encountered another individual who really grinds their gears. A needy patron who can’t be satisfied. An employee who just doesn’t listen and couldn’t care less about those around them. A competitor who steals clients. Whatever the case is, the world is full of people who are going to tick you off. But once they do, you have the choice to get angry and react poorly, or to resolve the situation in a calm manner.

For all too many individuals, it is far too easy to fly off the handle, and once that point is reached it can be hard to come back from that. Someone who gets uncontrollably angry at peers or customers is going to be looked over for promotions, and people aren’t going to want to work for or with such a person. Your success or your business will fail if your anger cannot be controlled.

GluttonyConsuming more than you require leads to gluttony. In the traditional sense, it is in reference to the consumption of food and drink, and drink has been known to damage the reputation of many a successful businessperson. But outside of that, consuming more than is needed can be very harmful to a business.

Consumption means spending. And spending more than necessary can easily lead to money troubles and failure. It can mean you overspend, buy a larger building than you need, choose the company vehicle that is a little more than you wanted to spend, and using more than needed. Gluttony in business is a certain route to financial disaster.

EnvyEnvy can be a double edged sword. For some, desiring what others have can be a catalyst to motivate them to work towards those situations. Unfortunately for many people, envy is a constant state. They always want the next best thing, they want what others have, and are unable to appreciate what they already have.

In the world of business, it is easy to lose sight of what you actually need to make your company a success, if you’re always looking around and wanting what others have. Not all businesses are created equally, and just because another company in your industry has the latest and greatest tool, doesn’t necessarily mean it is what you need. Be wary of envy, and don’t let it make decisions for you.

SlothLazy is easy. And the path to success is rarely an easy one. It takes a lot of hard work to grow a successful business, and those who aren’t willing to work for it probably aren’t going to get there. Sloth is the avoidance of work, and avoiding work is kind of a major detriment of running a business. Those who are lazy probably shouldn’t try running a business. Sloths should hand over the reins to someone who is willing to take charge, because they will not make it otherwise.